Fight Fire With Fire: The Bodyguard
by akaiciel
Summary: Wufei, as a preventer, is forced to become Dorothy Catalonia's bodyguard after she receives death threats.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**  
  
  


World War One.   
  
World War Two.   
  
World War Three.   
  
The Colonial Uprising.   
  
The Eve Wars.   
  
The fight in Preventer Une's office...   
  
"I won't."   
  
"You must."   
  
"I refuse!"   
  
"Please Wufei, you're the best person for the job!"   
  
"Then you train your men badly."   
  
"They're all much too old, it would be conspicuous!"  
  
"You'll find someone."   
  
"I don't need to remind you, Preventer Chang, that this is your duty."   
  
"This is my _job_, duty has nothing to do with it!"   
  
"As you wish. Your _job_ is now to protect Dorothy Catalonia with your life."   
  
Preventer Une sat behind her desk, determined to regain some of her dignity. Wufei was being so stubborn, she half expected him to stick his tongue out at her and yell, "You can't make me!"   
  
At this particular point, she'd probably respond with a foot-stamp and a pout.   
  
At least he was calmer now, with eyes closed and arms folded, probably coming to his senses. She relaxed slightly, waiting for him to agree to the task.   
  
"So this is an assignment, like any other?" he said quietly. She smiled.   
  
"Like any other."   
  
"Then I refuse to accept, as is my right to do so, stated in the contract I signed on the 3rd January AC 197, section 6b, paragraph 1, line 2."   
  
Une smile faded, as did her tolerance level. "In that case, I feel compelled to remind you that while this is an official privilege, it has unofficial repercussions." She leaned forward and locked him in a Chinese finger trap of a gaze. "If you refuse this assignment one more time," she said evenly, "I'm going to transfer you to mud duty for three months."   
  
Wufei's eye twitched.   
  
'Mud duty' was a slang term for the most quiet, tedious jobs available, usually as security at a preventer spaceport or something of the like. Most of the time, they were assigned to new recruits, to give them some gentle training. To give mud duty to an established officer was an insult, and a laughable one at that. He would extract no sympathy and even less kindness from the passing, outspoken preventers, which, at a spaceport, could go well into the hundreds every day.   
  
He glared at her, and she glared back. Not the most mature approach, but possibly the most effective. Une really didn't care if it meant he would accept the assignment. She breathed deeply.   
  
"Now, let's start again." She cleared her throat and took on her 'official' face. "Preventer Chang, I have a new assignment for you. I need you to travel to the Sanc Kingdom where Dorothy Catalonia is currently staying and act as her bodyguard, indefinitely."  
  
"Why does Miss Catalonia-" He practically spat the words out as if they were an epithet, "-need a bodyguard in the first place?"   
  
Une almost sighed with relief at the question, possibly indicating that he would take the job on. "We have reason to believe that Miss Catalonia is under threat from a subversive group called the Prisoners of War. Have you heard of them?"   
  
"Vaguely. I'd have to research the matter."   
  
She relaxed even further to hear that he was taking this as seriously as any other assignment, and her expression softened slightly.   
  
"Well, in brief, there are those that feel that the attempt of the late Milliardo Peacecraft to destroy the earth remains unpunished."   
  
It was no secret between them that Milliardo Peacecraft wasn't dead, but as his death was a commonly believed fact, it was one that was acknowledged at all times. Any preventer location was routinely swept for bugs, but that just lowered the possibility of infiltration, it didn't remove it.   
  
"They believe that the threat still exists, living on in his former supporters," she continued, "And that the threat will continue to exist until these supporters are destroyed. Their label refers to their belief that we will all remain prisoners of the old wars until the old warriors are killed."   
  
"And that includes Miss Catalonia."   
  
"That includes Miss Catalonia."   
  
"I see." He closed his eyes once more. "Preventer Une, I think I must decline on the grounds that I'm a potential threat to the assignment."   
  
"How do you see that, Wufei?" she asked, with little patience to spare.   
  
"To an extent, I agree with them."   
  
"Wufei, watch your words when they could lead you to prison."   
  
He gave her a withering look. "Believe me, if I thought what they were doing was right, I'd be by their side. I'll only remain with the preventers for as long as they continue to do the right thing."   
  
"How generous of you," Une said with clipped amusement. "But can we please focus? Why do you think your opinions of them could cause problems?"   
  
"I don't blame them for wanting that girl dead. She was at the head of an extinction level threat, with hundreds of mobile dolls moving on her every whim. From the reports I've read, the cannon was even fired once at her command."   
  
"Wufei, she's a seventeen-year-old girl!"   
  
"Exactly my point, and probably theirs as well."   
  
Une's control was rapidly being lost. "So she should die because she played a large part in the Eve Wars at a young age? May I remind you of the hypocrisy of that statement?"   
  
His eyes narrowed. "She should die because she's still dangerous, still a threat."   
  
Une laughed at the ridiculousness of this statement. "She's a seventeen-year-old socialite, a debutante. What can she possibly do?"   
  
"You push my patience, woman."   
  
"And you push mine!" Seething with anger, Une stood and clenched her fists. "Don't you _dare_ insult me, Preventer Chang, especially not in such a crude, sexist, chauvinistic manner! How can you disrespect women in such a way when you have Sally Po as a partner? How can you disrespect _me_ in such a way when I am your supervisor? May I remind you that you can be disciplined as easily as the next officer, and that I have no qualms about doing so!"   
  
He looked at her evenly, almost expressionlessly, as he waited for her to calm. After a pause, she unclenched her fists and folded her arms, maintaining the fixed eye contact with him.   
  
"You're wrong, I don't disrespect women. I disrespect weaklings and idiots." Une shut her eyes as she counted to ten and tried to remember why she'd hired him in the first place.   
  
"If the ignorance you're displaying is representative, then you don't deserve your title. If what you're displaying isn't ignorance but a willingness to ignore, then you are weak, and don't deserve your title. Preventer Po receives nothing less than basic respect from me because she deserves nothing less."   
  
It was the closest Wufei ever came to compliments, and Une made a mental note to tell Sally this particular one later.   
  
She was already calm, and prepared to listen once more. She sat back into her chair, lay her hands in her lap and waited, her unspoken apology. It was an invitation to continue that she knew he would appreciate much more than any spoken word at this point.   
  
Noting her change in posture, he accepted the apology and continued.   
  
"Miss Catalonia had great power at a young age. Now she is a mere 'socialite' as you put it. No one knows if she's content with this change, or if she craves the power she once had. If she does actually miss it, then she's in a perfect position to regain it, surrounded socially by former members of Romafeller, at school with ex-OZ soldiers. Not everyone feels that the Peacecraft way is the correct one, and many feel that retribution is justified."   
  
Now Une felt small and stupid. Everything he had told her, she should have thought of for herself. However, she now counted Dorothy as a friend, having unexpectedly found the young girl to be good company.   
  
She was also a nice reminder of Treize. Often, Dorothy would come out with statements so true of his mind that Une practically heard them in his voice. The former White Fang commander was now gentle, thoughtful and caring, displaying no signs of missing her power during the wars.   
  
On the other hand, Dorothy was also brilliant, ruthless and high-minded, and if she felt that something was right, would stop at nothing to complete it. If she found a cause she really believed in that needed a few deaths to come to fruition, she'd be there, holding the gun herself. She truly was still dangerous.   
  
"Preventer Chang." He looked at her expectantly and she smiled slightly. "You've put me in my place."   
  
Une noticed Wufei frown, and knew that his mind was currently overrun with suspicions of her thoughts, motives and reasons. Une was perversely pleased that he was finding it difficult.   
  
"You're absolutely right, Miss Catalonia is a threat. However, she is also not guilty of any crime, and does not deserve to die. This group are nothing more than terrorist cowards, threatening her with newspaper notes and long-distance rifles. She _needs_ a bodyguard."   
  
She stood up straight and folded her hands serenely in front of her. "And you, Chang Wufei, are exactly the right person for the job!"   
  
"Preventer Une-" he began warningly, but she smoothly interrupted him.   
  
"You're the same age, highly trained, and more than capable of the position. You should be able to remain close to her more inconspicuously than anyone else, giving Dorothy's life little disruption. As for your protest on the grounds that you're a threat to the mission, I reject it on the grounds that the best person to stop an enemy is the one who understands them."   
  
Une enjoyed the white-knuckle status of his fists, clenched so hard that they were shaking.   
  
"Your sympathy for their views gives you an insight, it doesn't take away your focus, and I know that if you accept this, Dorothy's safety is certain. Frankly, I don't see the problem."   
  
"It's an embarrassment!" he said through gritted teeth. "To have to leave my post to follow some _girl_ around, go to parties, take _tea_ with people..."   
  
He fell silent and looked away, overwhelmed by the indignity of it.   
  
Une had to bite her tongue extremely hard, reminding herself over and over that a laugh at this stage would destroy everything, and even drive Wufei willingly towards mud duty.   
  
"But only as her bodyguard," she tried to say consolingly. "There's no shame in that, surely?"   
  
"I should be working on finding these Prisoners of War and stopping them, not babysitting a single person!"   
  
"That, right there, that's exactly why I chose you!"   
  
"That's funny, I thought it was because I look seventeen..."  
  
"Don't you think there are trained bodyguards that look that young?"   
  
"Then hire one of them!" he shouted. Une stonily bit back her laugh at his temper. Now that she had the upper hand, he seemed like a child in a tantrum. Une could deal with a child.   
  
However, he wasn't a child, and he needed to know the truth. This thought cut off any potential laughter, and she faced him with sober eyes.   
  
"Wufei, there's been a small problem recently with information leaks."   
  
He was still annoyed, she could tell, but he pushed it momentarily aside. "Preventer security has been breached?"   
  
"On a couple of important matters. We still have no idea who it is, the breaches concern information so accessible that we can't pin it down to any single person yet."   
  
"I see," he said frowning. "So, what does this have to do with my babysitting duty?"   
  
"Don't you see? Wufei, you're one of the few people I _know_ I can trust."   
  
"So ask one of the others!" he muttered, but it was a weak protest.   
  
"None of them are young enough to fit inconspicuously into Dorothy's life or trained in the right way for this kind of responsibility."   
  
She hammered the final nail into the coffin.   
  
"You're the only person I can trust with Dorothy's life."   
  
He muttered something else, and she wisely chose not to ask him to speak up.   
  
"Preventer Chang, do you accept this mission?" she said, hardly daring to hope that it was true.   
  
He looked out of the window and said tonelessly, "Fine, I accept."   
  
Une was so thankful the interview was over that she practically slumped to the floor.   
  
Wufei turned and stalked out, fists clenched by his side.   
  
"Your plane to the Sanc Kingdom leaves in an hour!" she called. His step halted for a moment, then continued. She smiled at the slam of the door, then returned to her desk to make the official report. She commended Preventer Chang Wufei on his willingness to take on such a difficult and dangerous mission. It was, she felt, the least she could do.   
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**  
  
  


Wufei stormed down the corridor to his quarters, his black expression warning away anyone who tried to approach him.   
  
Once in his room, he began to stuff clothes forcefully into a case, but thought he'd better stop after he ripped a shirt. Stepping back, he felt an overwhelming urge to get rid of some of this furious energy.   
  
Wufei hated being made to feel out of control, as Une had just done and the katana in his hand repaired his damaged ego slightly. As he gripped it and moved it around, he felt powerful once more.   
  
The warm ups and exercises were routines he'd practised since childhood, and felt neither staid nor boring. He'd never felt a desire to skip them; his teachers had known best how he should prepare, and to ignore their advice was to insult their memories, as well as being stupidly arrogant.   
  
Wufei lost himself in his kata, as he had known he would. He felt some of the anger leave him as his mind was numbed, consumed entirely by the complex movements he was doing. They were movements of practised ease but great concentration, with all his energy focused on achieving perfection and all his thoughts directed towards improving on that.   
  
He slowed down and eventually stopped, his desire for strength sated and his hot head cooled. He was back to being calm and objective, a preventer once more.   
  
"I didn't want to interrupt, but your plane leaves in ten minutes."  
  
Wufei laid the sword carefully on his bed, and pulled out his clothes to repack them, this time folding them first. "Did Une tell you where I'm going?"  
  
Sally would have helped him to fold, but knew that would only embarrass him, so settled instead for packing his weapons in their secure cases. "To the Sanc Kingdom, but she wouldn't say why. Is it undercover?"  
  
"I'm on bodyguard duty."  
  
"Miss Relena?"  
  
"Dorothy Catalonia."  
  
"Dorothy!" The shock was evident in her voice, and Wufei smiled. Sally was rarely surprised like this. "I always thought Dorothy could look after herself, and I'm pretty sure she thinks so too. She probably won't make it easy for you, Wufei."  
  
Wufei's smile became a frown. "What she wants is irrelevant; what she's getting is a bodyguard."   
  
Sally laughed. "I'm sure she'll figure that one out very quickly. I only hope it isn't too painful a lesson for her."   
  
She clicked bullets into one of Wufei's firearms. "So what's Dorothy doing that's going to be so dangerous? Where is she going?"  
  
"Absolutely nowhere." Wufei slammed his case shut with a snap. "She's received some threatening letters that Une's taking seriously. That's all."   
  
Sally sat on his bed, sharpening one of his knives thoughtfully. "Maybe you're looking at this all wrong."  
  
"It's insulting, that's all there is to it! Is she mistaking me for some weakling rookie that can't do anything else?"  
  
"No, I think you've been chosen for this to give you bit of a holiday."  
  
He frowned. "Why do you say that?"   
  
She put away the newly sharpened knife and turned her attention to the next one. "Well, you've worked seven days a week since you joined us, and that was months ago. Not a single day off in all that time, it's a recipe for disaster, especially as you're so young."  
  
"My age is an unlucky accident, not to be held against me."   
  
Sally smiled. "Come on Wufei, you'll still be working! You'll just have an easier time of it than usual!"  
  
"From what I hear, that girl's a viper, hardly a source of relaxation."  
  
She shot him a disapproving glance. "Since when have you listened to gossip? I'm sure those people just misunderstood her."  
  
"So Quatre Winner has a scar for nothing?"   
  
"Does he hold it against her?"  
  
"No, I hear he has lunch with her regularly."  
  
"Ah, you see?"  
  
"Out of diplomatic duty, I'm sure."  
  
Sally stood up and smiled at him again. "Wufei, you're impossible. Have fun on your trip, and try to relax a little, I intend to keep you as my partner for a long time yet."  
  
He sighed. "Hopefully, this whole thing will be over soon."  
  
"You never know, you might enjoy it."   
  
He snorted, and she left the room, chuckling softly to herself.   
  
On the long journey, Wufei read over his brief with a growing hatred of the new assignment, and made many mental notes to take mud duty with thanks the next time it was offered to him.   
  
_You must accompany Lady Catalonia everywhere she goes and refer to her as "Lady Catalonia" at all times, unless directed otherwise by Lady Catalonia herself._   
  
_When accompanying Lady Catalonia, you must dress and behave as discreetly as possible, truly blending in as much as you are able to. As an example, for any balls Lady Catalonia attends, you will join her in a tuxedo as her escort. At school, you will wear the school uniform and sit by her in lessons._  
  
_You will sleep in Lady Catalonia's bedroom to prevent any attacks at night, but will respect her decency at all times. Lady Catalonia has been informed to report any incidents immediately to Preventer Une, and a note will be placed permanently in your Preventer file._  
  
Wufei threw the brief to the floor in disgust. Who did they think he was, some kind of obsessed idiot? The brief read as if he wasn't a preventer at all, but some unprofessional fool they needed to scare and patronise to make their point.   
  
Besides, the girl was hardly attractive. He doubted that even an obsessed idiot would go near a girl like _that_.   
  
He was tempted to get his katana out and go through his kata right there on the plane, an urge stifled only by the fact that he needed to read the rest of the brief, insulting as it was.   
  
As he stepped off the plane, he shivered slightly. _Preventer life has made you weak, Wufei,_ he chided himself as he marched to the meeting point.   
  
He was driven to the School of St Jude of Thaddaeus, the name Miss Peacecraft had given her kingdom's newest school, and met by a maid who took him to Miss Peacecraft's office.   
  
He remembered her from the news, seeing her as Queen of the World Nation. Since then, she'd become the youngest Vice Foreign Minister in history under the name of 'Dorlian' and done great things for the World Nation she had created.   
  
Several months before, she had resigned from her position and passed it on to a trusted colleague, who was working hard to reassure her that her faith had been placed well. Vice Foreign Minister Dorlian had become Princess Peacecraft once more, and was attending school.   
  
She looked different now, younger, in spite of the two years she'd aged. Now she was seventeen, and still looked like a fourteen-year-old.   
  
"Welcome to the Sanc Kingdom." She bowed humbly, then smiled warmly at him. "I'm so glad you could join us here, it means a lot."  
  
"Miss Peacecraft, I didn't exactly have a choice," he said stiffly.   
  
"Please call me Relena, I should be calling you by title, not the other way around. You deserve much greater respect and gratitude than I could possibly give you."  
  
They maintained eye contact for a moment. He remembered at that point that Relena had been at the frontline in the Eve Wars, that she had seen him as a gundam pilot in battle.   
  
In spite of her young appearance, he had to force himself to remember that this was not a child he was looking at. She looked so fragile, like a china doll, as if she might break at any moment.   
  
A rather attractive china doll. Not beautiful, but…attractive. In spite of her young appearance, she had grown up a lot since he had last seen her.   
  
He shook away the thought.   
  
"I understand Lady Catalonia knows nothing of my background?"  
  
Relena shook her head. "Not a thing. Lady Une gave me strict orders last week not to let her know."   
  
That distracted him.   
  
"Last week!" he exploded.   
  
"I take it you weren't given as much notice."  
  
He studied her carefully. Her blue eyes were dancing with amusement, but her smile was gentle and sincere. The way she spoke held not an inch of mockery, and he felt with absolute certainty that she meant every word she said.   
  
As long as she continued to be sincere and upfront, he was sure he could learn to get along with Relena Peacecraft, even if she was a politician.   
  
Dorothy Catalonia was another story entirely.   
  
Relena personally showed Wufei to Dorothy's room. In retrospect, Wufei realised that the princess was probably worried about the consequences of their meeting.   
  
"Come in."  
  
Wufei glanced around the richly furnished room and wrinkled his nose slightly and involuntarily. It was much too plush for his taste, and he wondered why Relena had given this girl such an obviously aristocratic bedroom when she advocated classlessness.  
  
The answer became clear on further inspection. The room itself was exactly like every other; it was merely adorned in Miss Catalonia's favourite style, which seemed to be 'over-the-top'.   
  
"Admiring my décor, I see."   
  
From the moment Dorothy Catalonia walked into the room, Wufei felt his defences slam up.   
  
"Admiring is too strong a word, Lady Catalonia."  
  
She raised her eyebrows. "Oh really? What word would you use then?"  
  
"I think 'looking at' is the nicest term I could come up with right now."  
  
She smiled. "At least you're honest," she said, seeming pleased. "I'm not particularly fond of it either, Mother chose it for me all by myself."   
  
So, she was a rebellious teenager with overbearing parents. He had to keep from yawning.   
  
"Wufei, this is Dorothy Catalonia, Dorothy, may I present Chang Wufei, your bodyguard."  
  
She nodded in greeting, as did he, each seeing how shallow they could make their nods.   
  
A bell rang, and Relena started. "Forgive me, I have to go and change for lunch. I'll see the two of you down there presently, I'm sure."  
  
"I'm sure," murmured Dorothy, still smiling at Wufei. When Relena shut the door, she stepped closer to him, apparently studying him. "So, I'm sure you just jumped at the chance to come on babysitting duty!" she said with a grin. "What did they have to do, double pay, triple pay, all-expenses-paid cruise?"  
  
"My world isn't ruled by money in the way yours seems to be, Lady Catalonia," he said, speaking even more stiffly than he had in Relena's office.   
  
"Lady Catalonia? I suppose they told you to call me that."  
  
"They told me a lot of things, including that I have to protect you at all times. We should go to lunch before the crowds lessen and your head becomes an obvious target to anyone but myself."  
  
He was being abominably rude and he knew it, but didn't care either. He hated women that looked like ladies but acted like children. Dorothy reminded him of a fourteen-year-old in her mother's high heels and lipstick.   
  
If she complained about him, Wufei would be taken off the case immediately and assigned to mud duty.   
  
As he again tugged on the neck frill that was part of the uniform at St Jude's, he prayed silently for her complaint to come soon.   
  
As Dorothy pulled on her jacket, she said, "I've been told a lot of things as well, Chang Wufei. I've been told you have to sleep in my room. You should be a little nicer to me if you want to ensure that it's anything less than miserable."  
  
He maintained his bored _expression and looked straight past her. Her threats were unsubstantiated and pathetic at best.   
  
_Seriously,_ he thought with a smirk, _What can she possibly do?_   
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**  
  
  


"What are you doing?"  
  
While Dorothy was in the shower, Wufei had taken the opportunity to do a thorough sweep of her bedroom. All her furniture was now in the centre, and he was going over the walls and ceiling for bugs.   
  
He carried on working, speaking over his shoulder.   
  
"Is there a problem, Lady Catalonia?"  
  
"Well yes, as a matter of fact, there is," she said shortly. "I'd like you to return my bedroom to the way it was."  
  
"This is a necessary procedure to perform, and one I should have done a while ago. It'll only take a few more hours."  
  
She looked like she was going to say something cutting, but ended up with, "As you wish, Preventer," and climbed onto her bed in spite of its skewed location.   
  
"So, have you found anything?" she asked brightly.   
  
"Not yet," he said evenly, trying to restrain his annoyance. He sighed inwardly. Why couldn't this girl be more like Sally? His preventer partner knew when to leave him alone. This girl was almost making small talk.   
  
"You won't, you know. Relena's very safety-conscious, someone comes in every few weeks to check the entire building."  
  
"They are doing their jobs, just as I will continue to do mine," he said through gritted teeth. His jaw ached from all the clenching, gritting and grinding of the day, but it was a favourable alternative to murder.   
  
She began to file her nails. "You really hate this, don't you?" she said conversationally.   
  
"That's irrelevant."  
  
"No it's not. You hate the fact that for who knows how long, you're forced to spend every single minute of the day with me." She sounded amused, almost playful.   
  
It grated.   
  
What little patience he had been mustering ran out. "Is this a familiar concept for you, Lady Catalonia?"  
  
"Why yes, as a matter of fact, it is." She propped herself up on an elbow. "How about you?"  
  
"I'm used to enjoying my work."  
  
"I was referring more to whether you are used to people not enjoying your company. They probably hate you, don't they, for being young, and beautiful, and better than they are?"  
  
"Don't attempt to flatter me, Lady Catalonia. It's insulting and ineffective."  
  
"Then maybe they just hate you because you're an ass." She lay back and sighed contentedly. "So, where are you sleeping?"  
  
"Between you and the window."  
  
"Oh, but I like this side of the bed."  
  
"Not on your bed!" he exploded. She smiled.   
  
"Calm down, Preventer Chang. You'll sprain something."  
  
He muttered to himself, and left the walls alone. She sat up eagerly "Finished already?"  
  
"I've finished checking the walls, yes."  
  
"So now what?"  
  
"Now I check everything else."  
  
He made his way over to her chest of drawers, opened the top drawer and, to Dorothy's horror, began to hunt through it.   
  
She leapt out of her bed and ducked under his arm, slipping between him and the drawer. She leaned back hard to slam it shut, hoping she'd taken some fingers off with it. "Get out!" she shouted. "You... You..."  
  
He looked bored. "I have to check all your possessions, Lady Catalonia. That's underwear drawer included."  
  
"But you can't, you just..."  
  
"I'm not about to let you die over some pathetic sensitivities you claim to have."  
  
She blinked in disbelief. "Excuse me, _claim_ to-"   
  
"If you can parade around me in nothing but _that_, then you can certainly allow me to check through your underwear."  
  
She posed as best she could when leaning against bulky wooden furniture, modelling the expensive negligee she was wearing. "Oh, this old thing? Do you like it, Preventer?"  
  
He raised an eyebrow. The purple, flimsy nightdress was cut short and low, and seemed ready to slip off in an instant. "It's impractical. If you're attacked-"  
  
"Then you'll come to my rescue, right?" She leaned forward and said slowly and clearly, "That is your job, isn't it, Preventer Chang?"   
  
Her face was so close to his that she was going out of focus. He gritted his teeth and ignored the desire to stand back slightly, feeling certain she would see that as a victory.   
  
"If you're attacked, your job is to do as I tell you, and if I tell you to run..."  
  
"I assure you my legs work exactly the same if I'm in a satin negligee or flannel pyjamas."   
  
Wufei fixed her with his gaze. "Please move."  
  
She met his gaze and upped the stakes in their game of staring poker.   
  
"No."  
  
"I'll have to make you."  
  
"I look forward to it."  
  
He leaned down to put her over his shoulder and carry her to her bed, when suddenly everything turned over and around. Stunned, he looked up to see her standing over him as he lay in a heap on the floor.   
  
She was grinning brightly. "I've been taking judo lessons. What do you think?"  
  
He grabbed an ankle and pulled her easily to the floor, landing with a thump on her backside. Her face creased up in pain.   
  
It was Wufei's turn to smile. "I think that knowing a couple of basic moves doesn't make you an expert."  
  
She glared at him. "So how was a novice like me able to bring you to the floor then?"  
  
"The element of surprise can be used even by a total amateur." He stood and reached for her drawers, only to find her jumping up between them again. He sighed.  
  
"Do we have to go through this again?"  
  
"You're all talk, Chang Wufei." It was disconcerting, the way her eyes stared unswervingly into his. He felt slightly unsettled, despite himself, and was able to see how so many fully-grown men feared her all those years ago. "You're probably a total amateur yourself, just some jumped up martial arts rookie."  
  
"If that's what you want to think, that's just fine by me. I hope we're never in a situation where I need to use my skills."  
  
"Skills! The only reason they assigned you to this is because you're the only one who wouldn't try to jump into bed with me!"   
  
He laughed cruelly. "You flatter yourself."  
  
"I speak from experience."   
  
He wondered if that were true, and filed the comment away for future reference.   
  
She smiled. "But I get the impression you're different, Preventer Chang."  
  
"Thank you."   
  
"I think you're gay."  
  
He gave her a withering look. "I'm not gay, and if I were it wouldn't make me any less of a protector."  
  
"Because you couldn't _be_ any less of a protector."  
  
Wufei shut his eyes and focused on not killing her. He'd had this nightmare before, but the person saying these words wasn't his client, but his wife.   
  
Without a word, he stepped away from the drawers and focused on the desk. He thought he heard her begin to protest, but he wasn't in the mood for this game. After a moment, he heard her slip into her bed again, this time remaining quiet.   
  
Wufei didn't find any bugs that night. Thankful that all the furniture was on castors, he was able to move it all back to the sides of the room, in a new, much safer layout, then position himself between Dorothy and the door and window, certain that he would be able to stop any intruders in the night. He knew he couldn't rely on her raising the alarm; she had stayed sound asleep, even when he moved the bed she was on.   
  
He was able to get a good night's sleep himself; it turned out to be a lot quieter there than most places he was stationed. He woke up at five and began with some stretches as per usual.   
  
Dorothy was awoken by a rustling, swishing sound. She opened her eyes, glanced at her clock and wondered with surprise what could possibly be happening at six in the morning   
  
Her question was answered when she turned her head slightly and remembered that she had a new bodyguard.   
  
As his body arched and twisted, she could see his muscles flexing beneath the black, form-fitting shirt. The huge sword he held was being passed easily from one hand to the other, smoothly slicing through the air. His eyes were blank, speaking of a concentration so deep that he didn't have anything to waste on maintaining an expression.   
  
It was an awe-inspiring sight, especially with the rich sunrise filling the room with warm light. He looked truly dangerous for the first time, and she began to wonder if it had taken much self-restraint for him to not hurt her the night before.   
  
As Wufei paused, Dorothy opened her mouth to tell him how impressive he looked.   
  
In a single, fluid motion, Wufei was stood over her, blade point denting her neck. "Say nothing," he whispered. She shut her mouth, smiled and nodded as he returned to his exercises.   
  
The school rising bell chimed at seven, just as Wufei was cooling off. He glanced up at the clock, then picked up his clothes. Dorothy sat up tentatively.   
  
"Wufei..."   
  
He looked over in her direction as if he'd forgotten she was there. It struck her that maybe that was the point of this routine.   
  
That stung slightly.   
  
She didn't like being stung.   
  
"Yes?"  
  
She wrinkled her nose and said with disdain, "Aren't you going to take a shower? Really, you can use mine."  
  
He looked away and spoke quietly. "I can't leave you alone and vulnerable like that."  
  
"And I can't leave you sweaty and smelling like that." She rolled out of bed and stood up. "Can't you just-"  
  
"I can't be in any situation where I'd be unable to help you if you were attacked. That means I can't be in a room with a door if you're on the other side of it, unless I were sure that the room you were in was a safe one. And I'm not."  
  
She nodded. "I see. Put your clothes down and turn your back."   
  
"Suddenly you're shy?"  
  
She rolled her eyes. "You have to do what I say anyway, so just put your clothes down and turn your back."   
  
He turned, and began wiping off his katana, determined to do something useful in the time she was wasting with her pointless vanity.   
  
"You can turn back now."  
  
He turned back just in time to have something thrown at his face. He caught it, looked down, and saw that it was a pair of black swimming shorts. He looked up at Dorothy, and saw her dressed in a black swimming costume with the St Jude's crest on it.   
  
"Do you swim before breakfast?" he asked, frowning.   
  
"Yes. Hurry or we'll miss it."  
  
He turned his back again and pulled on the black shorts.   
  
"My, what a nice...back."  
  
He whipped around to face her, face reddening slightly.   
  
"Shame I can't return the compliment," he snapped, and was glad to see her own face redden slightly.   
  
"Come on," she muttered and grabbed his arm. He slapped her hand off, but followed her anyway.   
  
Into the bathroom.   
  
He gazed at her in disbelief. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Showering," she said innocently.   
  
"In a swimsuit?"  
  
"You have to be in the same room as me, don't you? Well, in that case, I need to protect my modesty."  
  
"You could have fooled me," he murmured, but was cut off as she took his arm and pulled him in after her.   
  
He stared, and yanked his arm away. "What are you doing?"  
  
"I'm not going to have a sweaty bodyguard. Shower, or I'll report you for being overly conspicuous." She wrinkled her nose again. "Believe me, it'd be justified."  
  
He glared at her, and said shortly, "Fine." She beamed at him.   
  
"You're welcome. It's the least I could do after you didn't slit my throat this morning." She turned on the shower and shivered as it touched her skin.   
  
He tried to figure out what she was talking about, and remembered what had happened an hour before. "I didn't want to put up with your mockery at this early hour," he said, beginning to soap down his arms.   
  
"And you're so sure it wasn't flattery?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
She laughed. "Well then, who am I to disagree?" She chuckled to herself at his suspicious expression, and took the soap from him.   
  
The shower wasn't built for two people, and the whole experience was a difficult, awkward ordeal. However, Wufei noted that Dorothy didn't try to touch him once, or tease him in any way. At one point she even blushed, as she turned away, pulled down her swimsuit and washed her chest. Wufei began to think he'd made an impression on her after all.   
  
As he was dressing and Dorothy was brushing her hair, there was a knock at the door. "Mail!" came the muffled cry from behind it, and some letters were pushed under the door. Wufei snatched them up, ignoring Dorothy's outstretched hand.   
  
"Hey!" she said indignantly, "What's the problem?"  
  
He pulled out one of the envelopes and ripped it open. She cried out and launched herself at him.   
  
"Get off, that's private!"  
  
He pulled out the letter and held it high above his head.   
  
Dorothy felt sick.   
  
_YOU WILL DIE SOON YOU MURDEROUS BITCH. ONLY THEN CAN WE BE FREE - THE PRISONERS._   
  
"You can't go out today."  
  
Dorothy looked at him in consternation. "Why ever not?"  
  
Wufei almost choked. "Can't you see this note? Don't you realise what it means? They're waiting for you!"  
  
"They've been waiting for me for a long time, and I refuse now - as I always have - to change my plans for them!"  
  
He placed the note carefully inside a plastic bag. "Then you'll die," he said matter-of-factly, sealing it.   
  
"I won't, and nor will I postpone my shopping trip today, or my ball this evening!" she said, raising her voice.   
  
"Then you'll die!" he said, even louder.   
  
"No I won't!" she shouted.  
  
Fury flashed through her eyes until she visibly calmed herself, treating him to her usual smirk. "After all, I've got you as my bodyguard. How can I be afraid?"  
  
He folded his arms. "If you must carry on like this, then there are a couple of things you have to remember."  
  
She nodded. "Of course."  
  
"First thing: I can't leave you, not even for a moment. That means I'll be standing outside every changing room you're in, you can't use the ladies room at any point, and you'd better not try and ditch me, do you understand?"  
  
"Yes," she said sweetly, irritating him further.   
  
"Second thing: you can't mention at any point that I'm your bodyguard."  
  
"I thought you weren't undercover?"  
  
"I'm not, but a little subtlety never hurt."   
  
"Doesn't that mean that if anyone's around, they'll think I'm unprotected and try and shoot me?"  
  
"My mind works just the same whether I'm in a black leather or blue jeans. I can protect you either way."  
  
She smiled and conceded, "All right, I suppose that's acceptable. So, is there a third condition in the couple of things I should know?"  
  
He ignored the mockery in her voice. "If I get killed, you have to run."  
  
She tried to laugh off the chill she felt from his words, saying, "Don't you think you're taking this just a little too seriously, Wufei?"  
  
He shook his head. "It's you that's taking it too lightly, Lady Catalonia. If I'm shot, you have to run, you have to leave me and run. I'll either be killed or helped shortly after, but if you stick around to see which it is, you'll die for certain, and I'll have failed."  
  
"Let me guess: Chang Wufei doesn't fail?"   
  
_Yes, he does._  
  
Wufei had had enough. "Will you stop making this about your resentment towards me and listen for once?"  
  
She sighed, making her voice bored. "Fine, if you get hurt, I run."  
  
"Not just anywhere, use your head. It's the same if they try to use my life to make you do anything. If they say they'll kill me if you leave, ignore them, ignore me and run."  
  
She nodded. "Don't ditch you, don't let people know you're my bodyguard, and run if you're in danger."  
  
"Right."  
  
"Right." She folded her arms and appraised him. "Now it's time for some conditions of my own."  
  
He frowned. "Lady Catalonia-"  
  
"And there's the first one. As amusing as it was to begin with, please don't call me 'Lady Catalonia' anymore."  
  
"Fine by me."  
  
"You can call me Dorothy, and I'll call you Wufei."  
  
"I'd rather you didn't."  
  
"But you don't have much of a choice." He glared and she smiled; it was almost becoming a routine.   
  
"Next thing: even if I keep quiet about who you are, it won't do any good as long as you keep _acting_ like a bodyguard."  
  
"So how should I act?"  
  
"Like a man out shopping?"  
  
"Never tried it."  
  
"Well, how about just acting like a man, ever tried that?"  
  
"I'll just follow your example then?"  
  
"Laugh all you want, but I'm not going out with you behaving like some kind of a stalker," she snapped.   
  
"Fine, stay in."  
  
"Not an option! I need a new outfit for tonight."  
  
"So don't go."  
  
"I have to, it's for charity, I was invited by the Raynors." She began pacing. "It's bad enough I couldn't even choose my own escort for tonight, you could at least try to look as if you're enjoying yourself!"  
  
He sighed. "Fine, I'll try and...fit in."  
  
"That's all I ask."  
  
She pulled on her coat and said, turning away, "Now come on, the shops open in fifteen minutes, and I don't want to miss it."   
  
Wufei's thoughts turned fondly to mud duty.   
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 5**  
  
  


Wufei had never seen so many women's clothing shops in his life. And on top of that, all the clothes were so...indecent.   
  
He began to wish he'd insisted that Dorothy stay in her room. It was so embarrassing, to have her flaunt around in all these... She had called them outfits, but they were barely more than underwear.   
  
To make matters worse, he had to stand outside every single changing room she went in. She seemed to delight in teasing him; leaving the curtains open just a little, displaying every single item she tried on, even asking for his opinion...   
  
It was humiliating. Wufei wondered over and over again why he didn't just opt for mud duty when he had the chance; nothing could be worse than being asked his opinion on yet another sparkly bra.  
  
"So what do you think?"  
  
He looked up angrily, but was stopped in his tracks by what she wore.   
  
In contrast to the many "outfits" she'd been trying on all morning, she now displayed a long, flowing red dress. She leaned up against the changing room wall and smiled patronisingly.   
  
"You didn't think I was going to a charity ball in any of _those_ ensembles, did you?"  
  
Wufei was constantly on edge the whole time, expecting assassins to pop up from every corner. But they didn't come, and after a few reminders from Dorothy, he made an effort to relax.   
  
The ball was another matter. At least during the day, he'd been in his own clothes. A tuxedo wasn't the most conducive aid to relaxation, and he felt tense the entire time.   
  
As they entered, he started as a hand was laid on his arm. It was Dorothy, of course, her hands encased in long white gloves to match the flimsy wrap he couldn't see the point of. She had smiled encouragingly at him and whispered, "You'd better try to relax, or everyone will know who you are from a mile away!"  
  
It was...overwhelming. Wufei had been in the finest Chinese houses, associated with the most elite company on his colony, but this was something else.   
  
The room was enormous, and bedecked with a great deal of gold; there was so much that Wufei had to narrow his eyes slightly to block out the glare. Banners everywhere proclaimed that this was a charity event, and there were many people walking around with collection plates. Dorothy lazily cast notes into each one, and Wufei hoped he wouldn't discover where she was keeping them.   
  
An elderly man approached them, and Wufei tensed even further. The man beamed.   
  
"Good evening Dorothy, my dear! And how are you this fine night?"   
  
"I'm perfectly well, Lord Raynor, thank you."   
  
"Good, good," the old man chuckled, and Wufei was reminded of the western myth of Santa Claus. He suddenly found himself under scrutiny.   
  
"So I see you found an appropriate partner for tonight?"  
  
"Well, he found _me_ at any rate."  
  
"Good, good, he should do well!"  
  
Wufei frowned. _Well at what?_   
  
Lord Raynor simply laughed as if Wufei had told a wonderful joke. "And what's your name, young man?"  
  
"Chang Wufei," he said reluctantly, failing miserably to try and fit in as Dorothy had requested.   
  
"Ah, from the East, is it? Don't tell me, no...Japanese?"  
  
Wufei could have sworn he heard Dorothy stifle a giggle.   
  
"My colonial ancestry is Chinese," he said stiffly.   
  
"Ah, a true Chinaman, proud to the end!" He chuckled again, and Wufei decided he disliked this man intensely. "You should do very well, yes, very well indeed! Well, I must be off, I'll see you later, Dorothy!"  
  
"I look forward to it, Lord Raynor!" she said sweetly. Wufei was amused by the sudden realisation that Dorothy disliked such shallow cheerfulness as much as he did.   
  
But there was something bothering him. "What will I do well at?"  
  
"I'm sorry?"  
  
"He kept saying I'd do very well; what was he talking about?"  
  
She hesitated.   
  
Wufei alerted himself to the fact that everything she was about to say would be a lie.   
  
"Oh, I can't imagine, you know what old men are like! He probably just means to say that you'll fit in really well here, that's all!"   
  
"Dorothy..."   
  
A loudspeaker switched on, and a young man and woman stood on the stage with microphones. Wufei sighed and waited impatiently for them to finish so he could grill Dorothy properly.   
  
It felt like what Wufei had heard about rock concerts; the couple on stage were so far away he couldn't even make out their facial features clearly. That changed as Dorothy grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to the front.   
  
"Good evening everybody, and welcome to this splendid soiree, put together by the Raynor family in aid of the War Orphans Trust!"  
  
Everybody clapped politely, and Wufei mentally took back his rock concert analogy.   
  
"And now, for the moment we've all been waiting for, would the volunteers please come up to the front?"   
  
Before he realised what was happening, Wufei was dragged onto the stage by Dorothy, along with about sixteen other people of varying ages.   
  
"What are you doing?" he hissed. "I said to be subtle!"  
  
"And I said you had to fit in! I signed myself and a partner up for this months ago, you can't back out now!"  
  
The presenters were speaking again. Wufei calmed his ire to find out exactly what he was doing up there.   
  
"Last year we made thousands with this section of the night alone, and this year we're hoping to top that!" the man said with a grin.  
  
"So get your wallets out, ladies, your purses, and we'll begin our annual charity auction!"   
  
Wufei froze.   
  
"Now folks, bid carefully, as the person you win will be all yours until midnight!"   
  
Wufei tried to catch Dorothy's eye, but she was busy ignoring him and grinning like a Cheshire cat at the crowd.   
  
"Right, let's start with this pretty little lady just over here, Miss Dorothy Catalonia!"   
  
There was appreciative applause as Dorothy stepped forward and curtseyed, with a few whistles from some of the younger men out there. She bit her lip, looking pleased but embarrassed, and stepped back with her hands folded neatly in front of her.   
  
Wufei wished the whistlers could have seen Miss Demure Dorothy flouncing around in various changing rooms that afternoon. He had to admit though, she was apparently quite a charmer, with most of the crowd seeming to know her, and, what's more, to like her.   
  
"Now, we all know that this young lady has a mind of her own..."  
  
There was a ripple of laughter in the crowd, encouraged by Dorothy blushing, something she'd apparently taught herself to do on demand.   
  
"So here's your chance, ladies and gentleman, to have her at your beck and call for four hours only! That's right, in the opportunity of a lifetime, Miss Dorothy Catalonia can be yours for four whole hours! Now who will start my bidding at six hundred?"  
  
"A thousand!"  
  
"Eleven hundred!"  
  
"Twelve hundred!"  
  
"Fifteen hundred!"  
  
"Two thousand!"  
  
"Three thousand!"  
  
Wufei had to blink at the huge sums of money they were throwing around for the privilege of what he'd been subjected to with threats. He decided that Dorothy must have really perfected her act to have so many people willing to pay to be around her.   
  
Wufei would have paid anything to be rid of her, especially at this particular moment.   
  
"And sold, for twenty-four thousand, to Franz Raynor!"  
  
Wufei eyed Dorothy's buyer sharply, taking in all he could. "Raynor" probably meant he was related to the old man from before, and by the looks of him he was a son or grandson. Wufei was about to ask Dorothy herself when she was helped off the platform by her new escort.   
  
"And now we have Dorothy's companion, a young preventer no less, Mr Wufei Chang!"   
  
Wufei stopped dead still, and looked all around him. There was loud applause and whistling once more, this time from the female quarter. Dorothy was on the floor enjoying the show, so he allowed his eyes to roam a little and take in the scene before him.   
  
He felt like a bull at a cattle market, and was disgusted. This was their idea of high entertainment? Dorothy had done it willingly, so apparently so. He had to force himself to remember that it would be a lot less trouble to just go with the flow for now, then grab Dorothy and leave when he got off that blasted platform.   
  
"Does Preventer Chang look a little stunned to you? Well, that's probably because he had no idea that this was going to happen!"   
  
Wufei stiffened. There was loud laughter from everyone, even the comperes.   
  
"Miss Dorothy informed us that she wanted to surprise Preventer Chang with this evening's entertainment, so he's had no idea until this very moment what tonight's activities would involve!"   
  
He was rubbing it in. Imaginative deaths involving microphone wire danced through Wufei's head.   
  
"And, under the circumstances, I think we can all say that it's extremely sporting of him to stay up here, all for the War Orphans Trust!"   
  
There was louder applause than before, with a few cheers from men and women alike. Wufei tried to smile at them, but found it very difficult.   
  
The woman joined in. "Now, who will start the bidding at eight hundred?"   
  
"Eight hundred!"  
  
"One thousand!"   
  
And so on. Wufei stewed, feeling that his cattle market analogy was definitely more appropriate than the rock concert one.   
  
He beginning to feel genuinely worried and intimidated by the proceedings as many women, young and old, bid enormous sums of money on him. He closed his eyes and waited for it to be over.   
  
"Twenty-thousand!"  
  
"Twenty-two thousand!"  
  
"Fifty thousand."  
  
The voice was soft, but strong, and everyone in the hall gasped and clapped. He snapped his eyes open and tried to see who they were clapping, but it was impossible, the crowds were much too thick.   
  
The female presenter seemed shocked, but pulled herself out of it quickly. "And I believe we have a winner!" she said, her voice slightly shaky. She laughed. "Any more bids? Well then, Preventer Chang, you're sold, to Princess Peacecraft!"  
  
His eye trained on Relena immediately as she stepped forward. It made sense that she would be here, she'd possibly even had a hand in organising it, but he'd been so focused on Dorothy and her antics that he'd forgotten completely.   
  
He also took back his opinion from their first meeting. She truly was beautiful, in a long, cornflower dress, hair swept into a neat chignon: the perfect image of a young lady.   
  
He stepped down from the platform and murmured, "What the hell was that?"  
  
"I'm sorry," she murmured back. "Dorothy didn't tell me she'd volunteered your services, or I would have done something about it."   
  
"This is the way you people enjoy a party?"  
  
"No, these people are just more willing to give money when they gain something priceless out of it."  
  
"Believe me, my company isn't priceless. Dorothy can attest to that."  
  
"Dorothy's company is; did you see how many people bid for her?"  
  
Wufei nodded, he'd been wondering about that.   
  
"Everyone knows she was the White Fang commander, everyone knows she was at the frontline of the wars. But she doesn't talk about it, and neither do they. Somewhere like this, she's just another debutante that refuses to be alone with a man, and most men see that as a challenge."  
  
"So she won't leave this room?"  
  
"Dorothy never leaves the ballroom until she intends to return home."   
  
"Then she might be safe for a while."   
  
Relena looked troubled. "Are you taking these threats seriously, Wufei? I mean...we all get them, all the time."  
  
Wufei shrugged. "Lady Une's taking it seriously, so I should as well."   
  
"Lady Une's not taking it seriously."  
  
It was Dorothy, the annoying smirk on her face once more.   
  
"Dorothy!" Wufei hissed, clenching his fists. "How dare you do that to me!" She laughed, that false little bell-like laugh that he hated so much, and clasped her hands in front of her heart.   
  
She took on an angelic expression. "Oh but Wufei, it's for the orphans!"  
  
"You stupid little girl, I'm not talking about the auction!"   
  
Wufei was prepared to say more, much more, but he was cut off.   
  
"Dorothy, Wufei's your bodyguard. If anything happens, he has to be there to protect you, something he can't do as easily if you're with someone else. You've just put yourself in potential danger."  
  
Wufei was surprised by Relena's support, but very grateful for it. He watched her face as she spoke so seriously, and wondered how he could have ever thought that she was anything less than beautiful.   
  
Dorothy's sarcasm was quickly dropped. "Relena, I told you, Lady Une's not actually taking it seriously, so you shouldn't either."  
  
Wufei pursed his lips. "If Une's not taking this seriously, then why am I here?"  
  
"As window-dressing so my mother doesn't withdraw her funding for the preventers," Dorothy replied promptly.  
  
Wufei was taken aback. He'd thought the preventers had avoided that sort of political pressure. Apparently there was no escaping it, in any society.   
  
He pulled himself together. Dorothy was very devious, and was manipulating him into believing he didn't need to stick around her. She was probably lying; Une wasn't the type to be intimidated.   
  
"I've been told to do a job, Miss Catalonia, and that's precisely what I'm going to do."   
  
She smiled generously. "Fine, just don't forget that I belong to Franz for tonight, and you can't do a thing about it."  
  
Wufei pursed his lips. "Please excuse me, Miss Relena." He gripped Dorothy's wrist and began to walk. "That's it, we're leaving right now."   
  
She stuck close to his side and moved as if she were willingly following him. "You'd better let go of me!" she murmured over the bidding in the background. "You wouldn't want me to make a scene now, would you?"   
  
"You've had your fun, let's go."   
  
"I wouldn't have thought you'd want to leave Miss Relena, I saw the way you were looking at her!"  
  
"What?! Anyway, Miss Relena's not in danger, but you will be if you don't shut up soon!"  
  
"Dorothy Catalonia!"   
  
The two of them stopped walking. They turned around.   
  
The female presenter had spoken down the microphone, and everyone in the enormous room was staring at them.  
  
"Where are you going, Miss Catalonia?" the female presenter said, her voice taking on a slightly hard quality. "Please, everyone, let's encourage her to stay just a little longer!"   
  
There were cheers at this, and Dorothy found herself being herded back to the front of the room. Wufei had to fight to keep up with her, grasping her hand in his so as not to lose her. He cursed the smoothness of her gloves as her hand began to slip, and he would have lost her if she hadn't returned his grip just as tightly with her own. He wondered if she was a little intimidated or even scared by all this, but she dropped his hand the instant they got to the front of the room.   
  
Wheels were turning in Wufei's head. Something felt wrong, and there was no way they could escape, packed in on all sides by hundreds of people.   
  
The male and female presenter stood in front of them, beaming as before.   
  
"Lady Catalonia," the woman said, "You've raised us an awful lot of money for the War Orphans Trust."   
  
The man stepped in front of her. "So I think it's only fair for us to show our appreciation properly."   
  
In one quick movement, he pulled a gun from inside his blazer and fired at Dorothy.   
  
Wufei didn't notice the screams, didn't feel the floor vibrate as hundreds of aristocrats began to run. He simply threw himself in front of Dorothy, using one arm to pull her down behind him.   
  
There was no pain. Wufei had been shot before, and knew there was more pain involved than this.   
  
Lady Une herself was standing by the shooter, who, with his accomplice, was currently being restrained by many preventers. Seeing him stand, she tossed him a bag and said, "Your orders have changed, Preventer Chang. Get her out of here and take her somewhere safe, now. Don't let anybody know where you're going, don't let anyone know where you are, especially not a preventer. Understood?"  
  
"Understood." He climbed to his feet and shouldered the bag.   
  
"Wufei?" It was Relena, one of the few that hadn't left as quickly as possible.   
  
Her face held an _expression of sadness and concern, but was dutifully resigned. The cornflower blue dress was ruffled, and the carefully arranged hair was beginning to come loose.   
  
He thought she looked enchanting.   
  
"Please take care of Dorothy, and yourself. Contact me at any time if you need anything."   
  
He nodded, and something strange churned inside him. Dorothy had been knocked out, so he hefted her into his arms and left as quickly as possible.   
  
Wufei felt stupid; in a tuxedo, with a backpack, holding an unconscious girl. This wasn't exactly the night Dorothy had planned.   
  
He gritted his teeth and tried to ignore how heavy a fully-grown person can be. The enormity of what he'd just agreed to suddenly smacked him in the face.   
  
He had to hide away a tall, rich girl with platinum blonde hair to her knees. To make it worse, she was recognised around the world, and only actually liked by a portion of that world. To make it even worse, they had to get to this mystery place first, and in evening dress as well.   
  
He dumped her on the ground as he found a car he could hotwire easily enough, then dragged her into the backseat. He jumped into the front and used the car's route planning screen to check out local transport, trying to decide where to go.   
  
When a viable solution revealed itself, he breathed a sigh of relief.   
  
It was perfect.   
  
Suddenly, glass scraped his face as his window was smashed. He swerved the car sharply, and realised that his right arm was now useless, his shoulder burning.   
  
He forced his eyes to stay open, and floored the accelerator. He winced at the familiar pain as he felt his blood began to seep through the expensive white shirt.   
  
Now _this_ was what being shot felt like.   
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**  
  
  


When Dorothy woke up, she couldn't remember going to sleep. She tried to raise her head to see what the time was on her bedside clock, but cried out as pain spread through her body and overwhelmed her.   
  
Once her senses unfogged, she realised she could hear a whirring noise, and feel a draft coming from somewhere. She sat up, a lot more carefully than before, and guessed from looking around that she was in the freight carriage of a train. She was lying on and surrounded by wooden crates, and could feel many splinters in her legs, no doubt laddering her tights. She rubbed her head and thought bitterly that Wufei must have just thrown her in there.   
  
Her eyes widened. _Wufei!_ She jumped to her feet only to collapse down again, hands clamped over her throbbing skull. When she clambered to her feet once more, it was slowly, with the help of the boxes and taking into account the motion of the train.   
  
It was dark, but a blind person would have noticed him.   
  
Preventer Chang Wufei lay huddled in a corner of the carriage, slumped over a box in a crumpled white shirt and black trousers. He appeared to be asleep, so she whispered, "Wufei! Wufei, wake up!"   
  
Normally, that would have been enough to have him on his feet with katana in hand, but today, nothing. Frowning, she crawled over to him. "Wufei!" She touched his shoulder to shake him awake and gasped at how cold it was. _That's strange,_ she thought, puzzled. _I feel quite warm..._   
  
For the first time, she realised that she was wearing Wufei's dinner jacket. Crying out, she unbuttoned it and tried with shaking fingers to lay it over him.   
  
Suddenly, his eyes opened wide, and she found herself flat on her back with Wufei astride her, pressing his hand to her throat. "Wu...fei..." she croaked, but had to fall back to strangled noises as he pressed down even harder, his eyes wild and unfocused.   
  
She blinked as something touched her face. Even in the confusion, she could see that it was blood, Wufei's blood, and could make out a dark stain on his formerly white shirt.   
  
By now, her eyes were beginning to roll into her head, and she resigned herself to unconsciousness once more...  
  
Her breath came back in gasps, and her eyes fluttered wide open again. Wufei's grip had relaxed, but his eyes were glazed over. They gently shut as he collapsed over her.   
  
Dorothy could feel his heartbeat against her chest, calming down in time with her own. She realised she was trembling, and focused on slowing her breathing.   
  
Wufei was still covering her. Part of her had wanted to push him off immediately, but the practical side of her appreciated the protection from the bitter cold. She felt guilty, knowing he was wounded and needed help, but decided with a biased rationality that she couldn't do anything anyway until she was calmer and warmer.   
  
She felt her eyelids begin to droop and snapped them wide open, sitting up and throwing Wufei from her. He fell with a thud onto the wooden boxes. Dorothy felt her eyes becoming heavier, and slapped her face hard, first on one cheek, then the other. She _couldn't_ fall asleep! Her stinging cheeks served to remind her that if she fell asleep without helping Wufei, he'd probably die.   
  
Her eyes strayed to the black blazer he'd cast off, and she felt her conscience twinge. He'd been injured, freezing and exhausted, but he'd still given her his jacket. It seemed that Chang Wufei took his work very seriously.   
  
Examining his wound, she was shocked to see that it was from a gunshot, just below his collarbone and by his left shoulder. _His arm must have been dead,_ she thought in amazement. _How in the world did he get me here?_   
  
She went to rip off a strip of her skirt, but discovered that that was a lot harder to do than they'd made it sound in books. She racked her brains to think of another solution that didn't involve tearing.   
  
_I've got it!_ She cringed slightly, but pulled off her tights, long enough to be used as a bandage. However, she appraised them and decided that they'd be too thin for the task, that the blood would seep right through.   
  
Suddenly, she had it. Blushing slightly, she pulled off Wufei's already bloodstained shirt, which was, again, surprisingly difficult. She felt extremely awkward and clumsy as his arms flopped heavily and she tore the shirt several times. _Typical,_ she thought sourly. _This one tears just fine..._   
  
However, after a fair amount of time and effort, it was finally off, and she could see for herself how much blood there was. She paled, and cursed herself for waiting for her selfish warmth to come back.   
  
She wadded up his shirt and laid it over his shoulder, pressing it down on both sides. After a few moments, she used her tights to bind it into place as hard as possible, then put his black jacket on over the bandage to keep him warm.   
  
He shivered as he lay there, and she positioned his body, curling him up as small as possible. The more body heat he conserved, the better. She sat upright next to him, refusing to fall asleep until she was certain he'd be okay.   
  
After all, he'd saved her life. Dorothy had no doubt that the bullet was meant for her, and that had he not been there, it would have met its target. Also, she didn't know where they were headed; she might actually need his help.   
  
With these thoughts ringing through her mind, she steeled herself against the cold and concentrated on staying awake.   
  
  
  
  
When Wufei opened his eyes, pain seared through his body, enough to make him wince. He could see Dorothy with her knees pulled up to her chest, shivering in the cold, staring straight ahead with vacant eyes. He wondered how long he'd been asleep.   
  
Suddenly his brain clicked on, and he understood properly that Dorothy was shivering. As the draft whipped his face sharply, he could imagine how cold she must be. Feeling the warmth of his blazer over him, he realised what she had done, and what it would cost her if she didn't get her body temperature up soon.   
  
If _he_ didn't get her body temperature up soon.   
  
"Dorothy," he said hoarsely. She started at the sound of his voice, but breathed a sigh of relief, teeth chattering.   
  
"A-Ab-b-bout t-t-time y-you w-w-were a-a-a-awa-wake," she managed.   
  
It felt like his bones splintered as he sat up. She didn't help him, just stared at him as if her reflexes were numbed.   
  
She jumped as he laid his hand on her arm and pulled her closer. Slowly and painfully, he forced his arm to stretch around her and pulled her close, rubbing her arms to warm her up.   
  
"H-H-H-Hey, d-d-don't g-get t-t-t-too f-f-friendly..."   
  
He pulled his arms back sharply, ignoring the complaints his bones creaked at him. "Fine then, freeze!" he snapped, regretting it instantly when he saw the mortified _expression on her face.   
  
"P-P-Please Wu-Wu-Wufei, I'm f-f-f-freezing..."   
  
He relented and pulled her back to him, rubbing his hands over her arms, back, chest and legs, ignoring how embarrassing this would be if it were a normal situation and concentrating on forcing her blood to flow.   
  
Her bare skin was like porcelain in winter; as white as she was, she obviously didn't have outstanding circulation to begin with. When he was sure she was warm enough to survive, he opened his jacket and shuddered involuntarily at the rush of cold it let in. Ignoring it, he pulled her towards him and held her close.   
  
She stiffened. "Hey, w-what are you doing?" she cried out. "This is...I-It's..."   
  
He rolled his eyes. "I'm your bodyguard, Dorothy," he said with what he felt was a suitable amount of bite. "I'm keeping your heart beating."   
  
She relaxed slightly, and he wrapped the front of his jacket around her, continuing to rub her back with his hands as they lay down facing each other.   
  
He fought the urge to start shivering himself as she folded her arms in front of her, trapping them between her chest and his. In a way, he was grateful; her icy fingers chilled any awkwardness out of him.   
  
Gradually, Dorothy regained her own body warmth and began to share some of it with Wufei. Now feeling much more alert than before, he allowed himself to slip into a light sleep, to wake up the moment the train slowed.   
  
  
  
  
Dorothy didn't know how many hours had passed by the time she woke up. She tried to open her eyes, but discovered that her face was pressed into her arms. She attempted moving her arms out of the way, but found that there was resistance for some reason.   
  
As her mind sharpened, she realised that she was gagged, tied up, and trapped in a confined space that could well be a box.   
  
She tried to scream, but her throat refused to make any noise. She tried to move, but found her limbs heavily weighed down. If it could have, her breathing would have increased sharply as she imagined the drugs through her system.   
  
Where was Wufei? Why had he let her get trapped? The only answer could be that he was dead.   
  
She felt stunned and terrified. Anyone who was able to kill Wufei was capable of terrible, terrible things. She shut her eyes and began to run through worst case scenarios in her head.   
  
More hours passed until she heard the sweet sound of nails being pried from the wood around her. At least, it seemed sweet when she thought of freedom, but filled her stomach with dread when she realised she was about to come face to face with Wufei's killer.   
  
Eventually, the lid was pulled off, and she was dragged out. As she levelled out, she discovered she was being carried in someone's arms, and looked up to see...   
  
Wufei?   
  
Her surprise became anger. How dare he lock her up in a box?! She had thought he was looking out for her, getting over his own prudery to warm her beyond danger levels, sacrificing his own body heat to save her...   
  
And now here she was, Dorothy the jack-in-the-box, waiting for an explanation.   
  
To give him credit, he still seemed to be considering her welfare. He lay her down on a bed that might even be comfortable - she was still too drugged to feel much. She heard the scraping of a stool, but couldn't see a thing until he placed his hands on her head and tilted it to the side.   
  
Wufei had to smile at the sight of her. Dorothy Catalonia, helpless and vulnerable? The very concept would be amusing to anyone who knew her, and the reality was enough to make him break into a grin.   
  
Dorothy was furious. The man who trapped her in a box was _laughing_ at her! It infuriated her even more to know that she couldn't do a thing about it. Her emotion was overwhelming, too much to contain, and a single tear of pure frustration rolled down her cheek.  
  
Wufei made an effort to hide his smile, and he brushed the tear away with his thumb. "Don't be afraid," he said calmly, in what he evidently thought was a soothing voice.   
  
_I'm not afraid, I'm going to kill you!_ she wanted to scream, but settled instead for what she fervently hoped was a glare.   
  
Wufei felt a stir of compassion in his heart; she looked like a rabbit caught in headlights, as the old earthling saying went. She didn't know of a single decision he'd made since the assassination attempt, and was probably terrified.   
  
Maybe Dorothy Catalonia was more fragile than he'd thought? He decided to try and ease her mind a little.  
  
"A few days ago, someone tried to shoot you at that ball," he began. "I managed to get you out of the way, but you hit the ground hard and were knocked out. Now you need to lie low until they've located the Prisoners."   
  
_Don't I get a say in this?_ Dorothy screamed inside her head. She wondered why her inner voice only seemed to scream, but decided it was because she wasn't used to so much forced introspection.   
  
"I managed to smuggle us aboard a freight train. I figured it would be cold, but worth it." He cleared his throat. "But I'm sure you want to know why you were in a box."   
  
_Do you think so, Wufei?_ Her inner voice was quieter now, but made up for the decrease in volume with an increase of sarcasm.   
  
He continued obliviously, as she had known he would.   
  
"Look, I know it probably scared you or something, but I needed to find some way to get you out of there without looking conspicuous, there were people everywhere."   
  
_If there were people everywhere, then why would I look conspicuous, Wufei?_ she thought with a rising amount of trepidation. _Where are we?_   
  
He opened a drawer and pulled out a box and a brush. "The other thing we're going to have to do is dye your hair. Right now, anyone could find you in a crowd..."   
  
_Where are we, Wufei?_   
  
"Because we're in Hong Kong."   
  
She shut her eyes. _Perfect, one of the few places in the world where blonde hair really stands out..._   
  
"In a way, it's quite fortunate, we should fit in fairly easily here, if you dye your hair."   
  
_Don't you touch my hair Wufei._   
  
"I think you might have some objections to this, so I'll do it now, before the sedative wears off."   
  
_I hate you Wufei, I just want you to know that. I hate you._   
  
"Here's what we're going to do," he said firmly as he scrubbed the dye into her hair. "I've hired this house telling people I'm a teacher in Europe, but I've moved here for a break after my wife had a miscarriage."   
  
_Oh no..._   
  
"That's you, Dorothy. Your name's Heidi Wong. You're Swedish."   
  
She hoped he was feeling bad about this, and wished she could let him know how much worse he'd be feeling before she was through with him.   
  
He sighed. "Look, it was the safest thing I could think of. This way, we've got a reason to seem sort of awkward with each other, after the emotional trauma and everything, and it's too sensitive a subject for anyone to bring up lightly. It's as good a reason as any to hire a place suddenly and only stay for a short while."   
  
He said "emotional trauma" with such disdain that Dorothy would have been amused, but at that moment he rinsed his hands and the water ran purple. She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to imagine the shining blonde hair she'd spent her life cultivating being distorted to black.   
  
"It's not so bad."   
  
He was trying to comfort her! She felt angry all over again.   
  
"We're right by the river, the vegetable patch is full, and there's a clean water pump on the property. We'll be able to support ourselves with little intervention from others. We've really been very fortunate."   
  
_I'll give you fortunate..._   
  
It was well into the dead of night when Dorothy was able to move again. Her nose itched, and she scratched it out of reflex, laying her arm back down afterwards. It took her another few minutes before realising what she'd just done.   
  
She sat up slowly, and the bed was so hard that she didn't make a sound. On closer reflection, she realised that the "bed" was in fact a sofa. Wufei had apparently taken the bed for himself. _Nice,_ she thought dryly, _Very chivalrous..._   
  
The first thing she did was to find a mirror. She could remember where the bathroom was from the hair dye incident, and was thankful to see a fairly large, plain sheet mirror on the wall.   
  
It was murky and cracked, with a couple of the corners chipped off, but it was there. She had been beginning to wonder, this hovel seemed to be the depths of squalor. And Wufei had mentioned something about having a water pump, as if that was a luxury!   
  
She viewed her reflection apprehensively.   
  
If Dorothy were the sort of girl that cried, her tears would have been flowing. For over fourteen years, she'd looked into the mirror and seen a long sheet of platinum hair cascading down her back. Now it was so dark she could barely see anything of it.   
  
Instead of crying, she became angrier and angrier, touching her hair gently, then gripping it in her fists, wishing she could tear each strand from her head and make it blonde again. The only thing that could have possibly been worse was if it had been cut. She was reluctantly grateful that they had moved to a place where long hair was expected and common.   
  
That wasn't the point. Wufei had crossed the line, and Dorothy had had enough. She turned around quickly, unable to bear her reflection any longer, and stalked to the kitchen.   
  
When Wufei opened his eyes, it was with Dorothy astride him, pressing a smooth-edged meat knife to his throat.   
  
She slapped him, hard. "_That's_ for drugging me!" Another slap. "_That's_ for locking me in a box!" Another slap. "And that," she said furiously, "Is for dyeing my hair!"   
  
He just looked at her, unworried. She felt her anger swell.   
  
"Don't you _ever_ touch me again, Wufei!" she hissed. "Do you hear me? Because if you do, I swear I'll cut you down where you stand!"   
  
His eyes were too calm. It heated her anger and raised it to new heights.   
  
Dorothy began to press down on the knife. If he could be calm, then so could she.   
  
She smiled at him, the demure, amused smile she reserved for intimidation. "I can do it, you know," she said softly. "I've killed people before, you know I have. And unlike you, I had a choice. I chose to make myself a good killer, and it worked."   
  
She pressed down a little harder.   
  
"Would you like to see how well?"   
  
Blood began to well up along the line of blade.   
  
He hadn't even flinched.   
  
Dorothy leaned closer to his face. "I'll be reporting you for gross misconduct the first chance I get, be sure of that."   
  
She released the pressure on the knife and leapt off the bed.   
  
"Call yourself a warrior," she said with derision. "I was able to creep up on you while you slept, you pathetic excuse for a fighter!" She turned away. "It looks like I'm the one who'll be keeping _you_ safe."   
  
"I knew it was you."   
  
She turned back and viewed him sceptically. "Oh really? And how did you know that, precisely?"   
  
"From your scent."   
  
Dorothy narrowed her eyes. "Idiot!" she spat. "Perfume is hardly a reliable test of identity, I'm sure a hundred women have fragrances like mine, possibly some female assassins!"   
  
"It's been a few days now; trust me, the perfume's worn off."   
  
She stared at him in disbelief. For the first time that night, she did something Wufei wasn't expecting.   
  
She laughed. It began as a stifled chuckle, but developed into a full, rich laugh. Wufei sat up warily, wondering what she was planning.   
  
She waved a hand at him. "Please, stay there!" she giggled. "I'm sorry, I'll stop in a..." She trailed off, lost once more to laughter.   
  
He stood up, hands hovering near fist status. She tried to suppress her amusement, and failed miserably.  
  
"What, a knife to the throat doesn't faze you, but a girl laughing puts you on guard?" The laugh broke loose again. "I suppose you haven't had much experience with women, have you Preventer Chang?"   
  
He began to get annoyed, and thought it was for her own good that she left when she did.   
  
Shortly afterwards, he heard the shower going, no doubt to remove the body odour that had given her away. Moments after that, he heard a shriek, probably when she discovered that this was just plain water from the pump, as cold as its source.   
  
Wufei almost snickered quietly to himself. He knew that the next day would be the most difficult of all, that Dorothy would be just as uncomfortable in his world as he had been in hers.   
  
He was looking forward to it.   
  
  
  
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**  
  
  


CHAPTER 6   
  
  
"What do you mean we're only going to eat rice? When you said we were in Hong Kong, I was expecting at least some noodles, perhaps spring rolls, not boiled rice! And to only have vegetables with it? That has to be against the Preventer's Code of Conduct somewhere, there are people in cardboard boxes living more comfortably than this..."   
  
As much as he'd been looking forward to Dorothy's introduction to the real world, Wufei hadn't counted on her reaction to it being quite so...irritating.   
  
"After my shower last night, I take it there's no hot water?"   
  
"There's no running water at all."   
  
She turned sharply, fixing him with a stare that plainly said, _Take that back or I'll make you wish you had._   
  
Wufei didn't care. Anything Dorothy Catalonia could throw at him, he was ready for. She was proving herself to be a pampered aristocrat through and through, aside from the brief moments when she'd been saving his life or cutting his throat. He just prayed that this assignment wasn't going to last much longer.  
  
"The shower comes from a filter system through the river, the same as the pump outside," he reported, enjoying the _expression of deepening horror on her face.   
  
Dorothy was speechless - but only for a moment.   
  
"I'm washing in _river_ water?"   
  
"_Cold_ river water," he added with relish. Not that he liked it any more than she did, but he had expected her to be at least grateful.   
  
Looking back at his blind optimism, Wufei wanted to kick himself. Since being shaken awake that morning, Dorothy had been complaining mercilessly about everything she could see, hear and smell. Wufei conceded that there was quite a bit to find fault with under normal circumstances, but thought that his charge would do well to remember a certain phrase involving beggars and choosers.   
  
Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore and snapped at her. "Dorothy, think what you like about this place, but keep quiet about it. Your constant whining is cutting into our work time."   
  
She laughed at this; not the rich laugh he'd been treated to after telling her he could smell her a mile away, but the bell-like titter he'd learned to loathe.  
  
"Work?" she said, with considerable amusement. "Preventer Chang, _you're_ protecting _me_! You should know that I can't get a job, that's much too visible!"  
  
He stared at her in disbelief. "Dorothy, I'm not talking about a job! We need to work to live, collecting and preparing food."   
  
She smiled uneasily. "Well, how much time can it take?" she said lightly. "You get something from the fridge, put it in the oven-"   
  
"Neither of which we have," he pointed out, a slight smile creeping over the corners of his mouth. "Dorothy, we're going to be spending our days pulling up vegetables, cleaning them and cooking them. If you don't do it, you won't eat."   
  
Her smile faded. "But...you're my bodyguard! Surely that involves making sure I don't starve to death?"   
  
He shook his head. "You won't starve," was all he said, before turning and walking away.   
  
He was right, although Dorothy hated that as much as she hated everything else about this situation. She spent the morning trying to block out the hunger that came from several days of no food, then hunting through the kitchen cupboards for a snack.   
  
There was _nothing_. Dorothy had been so certain Wufei was trying to intimidate her into helping him that she'd brushed off his words without a second thought. However, it seemed that he was simply being accurate when he said that if she didn't help, she wouldn't eat.   
  
Presently, Wufei returned to find Dorothy sitting in one of the hard chairs in the living room space, staring stubbornly straight ahead. He smiled to himself and began to wash the few vegetables he had for a quick lunch.   
  
Dorothy heard him peeling and chopping, and miserably refused to say a word to him. She wondered time and time again how she'd gotten into this mess, and began to make mental blueprints for her escape plans.   
  
She couldn't concentrate, her every train of thought leading back to food in some way or other. Eventually, she decided to postpone her escape plans until she had more information, and wondered instead how she could get hold of some food without admitting to Wufei that he had been right. She was just trying to figure out how to contact the preventers and beg for asylum, when a plate appeared in front of her.   
  
Dorothy swallowed.   
  
It was piled high with raw vegetables in an irresistible, colourful salad.   
  
Almost irresistible. Even though it was all she'd dreamed of in the past two hours, she still found herself saying haughtily, "What happened to 'You don't work, you don't eat'?" She tossed her black hair out of her face. "A real man would stick to the rules he makes up, however ridiculous."   
  
_Why can't you just say thank you, Dorothy?_   
  
She was more miserable than ever, her sharp tongue forming words out of reflex that her heart just wasn't in. She cursed herself, and cursed Wufei, wishing - as she had all day - that this was some sort of bizarre nightmare.   
  
He knelt in front of her and pushed the plate even closer. She reluctantly looked up at him, but didn't see any evidence of the expected taunting. Instead, his _expression was neutral.   
  
"I'm not about to let you go hungry."   
  
It felt to Dorothy as if he could see right through her, could see how grateful she really was. "Thank you," she said in a low voice, her throat almost balking at providing sound for these particular words. He placed the plate on her lap, before going back to his own dinner at the table.   
  
He finished his meal well before she did; unhindered by the social timewasters she'd been taught, he was able to eat quickly and neatly without appearing rude. He stood by the open door and addressed her.   
  
"Dorothy, will you join me in the garden this afternoon?"   
  
She had been so sure that he'd rub it in, that he'd try and force her to come outside with a sharp word or severe sarcasm. Instead, he'd phrased it like an invitation, making it sound like she had a pleasant afternoon tea to look forward to, or a game of croquet.   
  
Dorothy was certain that if she spoke she would only be ungracious, possibly the least appropriate response she could think of in the face of such...kindness. Instead, she nodded wordlessly. He smiled, seeming amused, then left her to her own mixed-up thoughts.   
  
That afternoon was an interesting one, for Wufei at any rate. Frustrating, long and hot, but interesting. Dorothy learned a lot of things about uprooting, cleaning and preparing vegetables, as well as the very important fact that she hated it all.   
  
"Wufei, where did you learn all this?" she asked him as they peeled carrots together.   
  
He eyed her suspiciously. "Why do you need to know?"   
  
"I don't _need_ to know at all," she said, rattled. "I'm just surprised that anyone has these types of skills nowadays."   
  
There was silence for a moment as they both scraped roughly at the rapidly diminishing carrots.   
  
"This is how I lived after the Eve Wars."   
  
She appraised him subtly. "Were you a soldier?"   
  
He glanced sideways at her, meeting her gaze. "Yes, I was."   
  
Dorothy tried to reconcile her knowledge of him with this fact, unsure what to make of it. "How old are you?" she asked, sounding almost as suspicious as he had a moment before.   
  
"I'm seventeen."   
  
She was obviously startled. "You were fifteen and a soldier during the war?"   
  
"You weren't at the front line much, were you Dorothy?"   
  
She bristled. "I think you'll find-"   
  
"I think you'll find you were in the Sanc Kingdom for most of the war, only joining Milliardo Peacecraft at the very end. Even then, you fought with dolls."   
  
Dorothy eyed him sharply. "You've done your homework."  
  
He shrugged. "I make it my business to know exactly who I'm going to be around. But if you'd been anywhere near the frontline through the war, you would have noticed that many of the soldiers in both OZ and the colonies were my age, and sometimes even younger."   
  
Wufei continued peeling, staring intently at the scalped carrot. "Desperation finds a way to blind people to the necessity of childhood."   
  
She began peeling again as well, more cautiously than before. "Where did you fight?"   
  
There was a pause.   
  
"I fought everywhere I went," Wufei said quietly. "Don't ask me to recall place names, I couldn't tell you."   
  
Dorothy was silent for a moment, digesting all this new information. "If you were fighting at fifteen," she said slowly, "You must have been training for years before."   
  
He grunted assent and began to slice his carrot.   
  
"Is that why you know your judo or karate or whatever it is? As part of your training?"   
  
His eyes flashed. "Don't taint something as pure as martial artistry with the stain of war!"   
  
Dorothy made a note of his reaction and listened carefully, but he noticed her interest and calmed his ire.   
  
"I learned how to fight with my body and my blade because it is a part of my ancestry to know such things, because it focuses the mind and heightens the discipline."   
  
He looked away and began to peel another carrot. "It's obvious that you've never learned how to fight at all."   
  
"So teach me."   
  
He raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"   
  
"I said: teach me."   
  
Wufei looked at her in bewilderment, then shook his head and returned to the carrot, now about half the size it was before his butchering.   
  
"Every time I think I can predict your path, you change your step. It's a quality I haven't encountered since...for a long time."   
  
Abruptly, he stood, and carried the sliced vegetables to the pot over the fire. He stopped. "I'll teach you, Dorothy Catalonia," he said without looking at her. "But you have to agree to learn."   
  
She smirked. "Just make sure you can keep up."   
  
Dorothy thought she could see him smile, but wasn't too sure; it could have just been a twitch for a mosquito.   
  
As the light faded, Wufei told Dorothy she could take the bed. She had smiled sweetly and responded with, "Why thank you, Wufei!" a sentiment she retained only until the moment she actually lay on it.   
  
His reasons for taking it the first night were instantly clear: it was rock solid, inifitely less comfortable than the sofa. She cried out, and was about to get annoyed until she heard a small chuckle through the thin walls. Hit by the funny side of it, she curled up under her threadbare sheets.   
  
"Thank you Wufei!" she called, just as sweetly as before.   
  
"You're welcome!" came the muffled reply, making her laugh.   
  
The next morning, she awoke to discover that he was gone.   
  
Unable to shake off the sensation of having a table embedded in her back, Dorothy had snatched the chance to get up eagerly. She had expected to find her bodyguard in the middle of his exercise routine, but there was no sign of him. On further inspection both his clothes and their boat were also gone.   
  
At first, she refused to be concerned, but when he still wasn't back by eight, she began to worry. After all, Wufei wasn't the one that was being chased by a group of assassins, and he was in a place where he could speak the language and blend in perfectly. If she had been in his bu xie[1], she would have left as well.   
  
She couldn't stop thinking about how she was all alone, a stranger in a strange land, with no way of escaping or communicating safely with anyone. As a result, when he walked through the door at half-eight, she was waiting for him with her hands on her hips, blissfully unaware of her resemblance to a jilted housewife.   
  
"Where have you-" she began to demand, but was cut off by the net of fish he slapped on the counter.   
  
Wufei grinned at her, apparently oblivious to her horrified _expression. She gazed in disgust at the pile of fresh corpses in front of her, their eyes sunken and glassy.   
  
Slowly, Dorothy lifted her nauseous gaze to meet his enthusiastic one.   
  
"Today, Dorothy," Wufei declared, "I'm going to teach you how to gut and skin a fish!"   
  
She thought she might be sick.   
  
  
  
  
Gradually but surely, Wufei and Dorothy settled into their distorted version of domestic bliss.   
  
Dorothy soon found that she was just too tired to keep up her sniping comments, and Wufei had begun to respond to every one with stony silence, giving her nothing to work with. As a result, they lapsed into an unacknowledged truce of necessity.   
  
With this new level of civility, Dorothy discovered that there was a lot to be learned from Wufei. He taught her things she wanted to know, things she didn't, things she thought she'd never need, but always in such an unassuming manner that she never felt like she was being taught.   
  
Except in her martial arts lessons. The two-hour daily routine made her feel both powerful and weak, pushing her body beyond what she had considered its limits, but being informed of every minor flaw in her technique as she did so. Wufei was not a teacher with infinite patience; if he felt that she was capable of doing something, he would push her harder and harder, getting visibly (and audibly) more annoyed until she achieved perfection. _His_ standard of perfection.   
  
On the whole though, they lived a simple life, full of early mornings, many disagreements and a _lot_ of rice...   
  
The rice was paid for in fish to their friendly neighbours, the Lam family, and was eaten with vegetables that Dorothy spent the day collecting, peeling, chopping, and eventually cooking. Dorothy would have demanded that Wufei cook, but his days were spent doing the many small repairs necessary to survive in their humble home. Besides, he helped her whenever he had a spare moment as it was, she didn't want to feel guilty for giving him more work.   
  
The only thing she disliked more than being forced to cook was being forced to eat the same meal twice a day, every day. It was the one thing Dorothy simply couldn't put aside, and her distaste was made very clear to Wufei, who ignored her.   
  
Or so she thought. About two weeks into her new life in Hong Kong, Wufei was late returning from the Lams'. Dorothy spent the entire morning collecting vegetables and pretending she wasn't worried while going through her mental filing cabinet of "Things That Could Have Happened", beginning with Abduction, Bone-Breaking and Collapse.   
  
When he returned in the afternoon, she had reached Suffocation for the third time and was frantic. She had been about to impress upon him just how angry she was, when the sight of his companions shut her up.   
  
With a small smile, he was leading a cow and carrying a couple of chicken coops, full of occupants by the sounds of them. Dorothy stared.   
  
"Wufei, that's a cow," she said flatly, her eyes never leaving the ugly thing.   
  
"Well, at least I don't have to waste time on the basics."   
  
"Those are chickens."   
  
"Glad you noticed."   
  
"Wufei, how did you afford a cow and chickens?"   
  
He raised his eyebrows. "Dorothy, just because we're _acting_ penniless doesn't mean we actually _are_."   
  
The implications of this sank in slowly.   
  
"You mean..."   
  
"The preventers actually pay me, even if I don't use that much of it. And I was given a certain amount - a certain _large_ amount - of cash to use on this assignment."   
  
"This assignment, that would be...me?"   
  
He nodded in confirmation.   
  
"You have large amounts of money to spend on...me."   
  
He nodded more hesitantly, seeing where she was going and not liking it one bit.   
  
There was a pause. Dorothy drew her breath.   
  
"Then _why_ didn't you buy us a luxury flat above a gourmet restaurant with hot, running water and air-conditioning?! Or we could have stayed in a hotel somewhere, it didn't have to be five star, just somewhere with a mini-bar, and a bath, and room service, instead of-"   
  
The cow mooed happily at her.   
  
She gazed at the insipid bovine in disgust. Wufei patted it; he seemed almost seemed proud.   
  
"No, that's far too conspicuous. Besides, a cow's more useful, and so are the chickens. Don't you even see what this means, Dorothy?"   
  
"It means you're in serious-"   
  
"It means we have milk and cheese and eggs, and beef and chicken if they stop being productive!" he said heatedly, raising his voice.   
  
Dorothy felt sick at the thought of slaughtering that stupid cow. She turned on her heel and marched inside.  
  
Wufei sighed and led the cow to his field. Dorothy had learned a lot, but she was still a long way from leaving behind her spoilt debutante persona.   
  
It was true, she didn't say a word about housekeeping anymore, and was willingly learning Cantonese phrases and martial arts, but she made up for these leaps forward with childish steps backward.   
  
Like the cow. He had thought she'd be thrilled at the prospect of something different to eat, some variety in her diet for the first time in a fortnight, but all she had seemed was disgusted.   
  
He tried to put thoughts of Dorothy's attitude problem out of his head and concentrated on setting up a pen for the chickens.   
  
He completed the job close to nightfall, and began to wonder whether Dorothy had refused to prepare dinner to make her point. It was exactly the sort of thing he expected her to do, and he tried to decide between taking the time to make his own dinner or rolling into bed and waking up early to make a good breakfast.   
  
As it turned out, he did neither. As he stepped inside the house, he was greeted with a warm atmosphere and unusual cooking smells. Apparently she wasn't being spiteful after all - at least, not in this particular way.   
  
As usual, when Dorothy was doing something unexpected, Wufei was on his guard. In their time together, he'd become almost permanently on his guard, making one inaccurate prediction after another, when he wasn't making gross underestimations.   
  
She was stood behind the stove, serving up their dinner, and smiled at him as he entered warily.   
  
"Sit down," she said carelessly, waving a spoon at the set table, with a precious candle lighting the room from the centre of it. He slid into one of the two wooden chairs, and she laid a plate in front of him.   
  
It was fish, fried egg and rice with some sort of tomato sauce over it. He looked up at her in surprise, and she grinned shyly back.   
  
Shyly? This was not like her at all...   
  
It was quickly replaced with her familiar arrogance as she said easily, "I don't know why you make such a fuss about catching fish. I stuck a rod out there and had one after only four hours!" She grinned brightly at him. "Pretty good, don't you think?"   
  
He couldn't help it. He imagined her watching the rod, checking it every two minutes and cursing at it when nothing turned up. He had to smile. She noticed, smiled herself and sat in the chair on the opposite side of the small, rickety table.   
  
"I'm..." She cleared her throat, sounding uncomfortable. "I apologise."   
  
He looked at her with even more surprise than before. She was gazing intently at the food she toyed with on her plate. "I..." she began, then stopped and regrouped. "I'm afraid I haven't been...making an effort. At all."   
  
He considered this. "I think you've coped quite well for-"   
  
"For a spoilt debutante?" She glanced at him, then returned to scrutinizing her meal. "Not to sound cliché, but that's not all I am." She smiled ruefully and stabbed her fish with a fork. "I'm also a spoilt schoolgirl, a spoilt soldier and a spoilt commander."   
  
This confession took him by surprise, and he waited to see where she was going with it. His mind ran through the list of ways she could benefit from telling him this, how she could possibly be manipulating him.   
  
"I admit it," she said, sounding resigned. "Even as a soldier, I was never anywhere less than at Mr Milliardo's side, and the lower rank officers fought to wait on me. I've never been in conditions as poor as these."   
  
Wufei felt his defences rise and opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by Dorothy.   
  
"But it's more than I deserve."   
  
He shut his mouth again and listened to her.   
  
"I know there are many people who wouldn't have treated me as well as you have. I mean..." She sat up and stretched out her hands, eyes wide and enthusiastic. "You bought me a _cow_ Wufei!"   
  
He laughed involuntarily, and it was a moment before he caught himself. She seemed pleased by his reaction, however short it was.   
  
"I took a couple of eggs from those cackling idiots, and skinned the one fish I was able to catch. I can't believe I never thought of making sauce before," she remarked, mixing the food on her plate. "We've got enough tomatoes."   
  
He tasted it and wrinkled his nose slightly. She didn't miss it and grew angry. "Why don't you tell me what you think, Wufei?" she asked with a threatening tone.   
  
"It's a little bland. Tomorrow, I'll get some herbs from the Lams to give it some flavour."   
  
Dorothy was annoyed at his lukewarm reaction, until she realised he was still spooning it hungrily into his mouth. On sampling it herself, she had to admit that it was pretty tasteless. However, it seemed like the finest, most carefully prepared sauce she had ever tried, a break as it was from the monotony of plain rice and vegetables.   
  
When Dorothy woke up the next day, Wufei hadn't caught a single fish. She found him at the back of the house, putting a roof on the chicken pen.   
  
"What are you doing?"   
  
"Good morning to you too," he said without looking up. "It's going to rain. I don't want the animals to be cold."   
  
It occurred to Dorothy that this meant he hadn't been to the Lams' house to get any herbs for her tomato sauce. Without disturbing Wufei, she decided to go on her own.   
  
That idea was firmly put to rest when she remembered that Wufei had caught no fish that morning, giving her nothing to trade.   
  
She searched instead for Wufei's wallet. After all, he had said that there was money designated for her use alone, and she figured that if using it was a problem, she could easily pay him back when they were in Europe again. She positively glowed as she imagined rejoining civilisation, if only for long enough to buy some herbs.   
  
His wallet was slim line, made of plain black leather, as simple as everything else he owned. As Dorothy opened it, she was stunned to see a photograph, a picture of a young Chinese girl.   
  
She couldn't be more than thirteen or fourteen. Dorothy guessed that maybe she was his niece or some such relation that he was apparently quite fond of. She smiled at the thought of Wufei as the doting uncle she imagined he would be, and wondered if the girl was the daughter of his brother or sister, however many of those he had.   
  
It suddenly occurred to her that she hadn't heard Wufei mention his family at all.   
  
Dorothy sat on the bed, absorbed in what she was seeing, a slice of Wufei's life she'd never even thought about. Once more, she felt like a spoilt, selfish little princess.   
  
Behind that photo was another, of the same girl in what Dorothy knew to be a Chinese wedding dress. She blinked and stared.   
  
The boy beside her was Wufei.   
  
  
  
  
[1] bu xie, or Mao shoes, are the black, slip-on Chinese shoes, still used today. Wufei wears them in the series, Meiran in Episode Zero, and so on.   
  
  
  
  
  



	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**  
  
  


Wufei was _married_? But he only looked to be the same age as the girl in that picture! She wondered where the girl was now, if the two were still married, or divorced, or even had children...   
  
No matter which answer was the right one, she couldn't figure out why in the world he was down here and guarding her, if he had a wife.   
  
Then maybe he didn't have a wife. Quatre had told her that he had been disinherited when his ardently pacifistic father learnt that he was fighting. Maybe this girl was the same, had refused to see Wufei because he fought in the war. Maybe he had snuck away in the middle of the night, as Quatre had, and was now dead to his family because of the dishonour...   
  
Dorothy groaned inwardly as she was reminded of her mother's trashy romance novels. None of these ideas sat very well anyway, but neither did the idea of Wufei as a husband.   
  
The very thought made her smile. Wufei as a husband? It was a ridiculous idea; he'd be a terrible husband! He was rude, inconsiderate, overbearing, domineering and a million and one other unpleasant adjectives. Dorothy pitied the poor girl in the photograph if she'd even for a short time experienced the nightmare that it was to live with Wufei.   
  
However...   
  
Dorothy remembered the way his body arched and twisted as he danced with his katana in the sunrise. She had been lost in his movements, hypnotised in fact. Since then, she had noticed that he displayed this graceful strength at all times, and sometimes had to snap herself out of a trance when watching him gut a fish or uproot a potato.   
  
He was more than capable of protecting her life with his own, and more than willing to do so. Even when she had been acting like a brat, he had resigned himself to bleed to death just to make sure she was warm. He was strong too; she would never forget how close he had come to killing her when he was delirious on the train.   
  
But he wasn't stupid, which she would expect from someone displaying the brute strength of Chang Wufei. He could hit, but he could also think, and often referred to books far too advanced to be light reading for a seventeen-year-old. Dorothy ought to know; she had read them herself. He wasn't a sheltered academic though, and was more than capable of fixing the roof, cooking a meal or building a chicken coop.   
  
Examining Wufei objectively, she began to see what that girl in the picture had apparently seen. Chang Wufei would be a good husband. _Is,_ she corrected herself. _He is a good husband._   
  
She suddenly felt unaccountably jealous of that girl in the photograph.   
  
"Dorothy."   
  
Imperceptibly, she slipped the wallet under the mattress and untucked some of the sheet as she turned. "Yes?"   
  
Wufei, who had consumed her thoughts for at least ten minutes, was standing in the doorway and frowning at her.   
  
"What are you doing?"   
  
She lifted the loosely flapping sheet corner. "I just thought I'd do some laundry."   
  
His brow furrowed even further. "You've been perfectly content to do without so far," he commented.   
  
He was right; neither of them had the energy at the end of the day to do laundry, so they'd taken to simply airing their few clothes out every night in preparation for the next day.   
  
"For you, not me," she said sweetly. "You do realise you're scaring the fish away with that smell, don't you?"   
  
He snorted in derision, but walked away as she had hoped he would. Dorothy breathed a sigh of relief, and returned her attention to the wallet. She had been preoccupied with the photos before, but, now she came to look, could see that it contained a _lot_ of money, enough to buy them a house six times as good as the one they had, and eat six times as frequently. She knew that this wasn't all of it either; only a fool would keep all of their money in one place, and Wufei was no fool.   
  
And neither was she. Carefully, she tucked half the notes into a pocket, the other half sliding into her bra cups in case of emergency.   
  
She was ready to go.   
  
  
  
  
  
Wufei returned to the house in the early afternoon. "I'll be out in a bit!" he called to Dorothy before settling down for a cold shower. It was extremely refreshing, and rejuvenated his aching muscles. While he missed the luxury of a warm shower, he had also scolded himself for being so soft, and had come to appreciate a cold shower in the way he used to.   
  
He smiled as he remembered Meiran's scorn when she found out that he preferred warm water. "You will never be a warrior!" she had spat. "You are so weak you can't even bear the water of nature!"   
  
"Nature made hot springs," he had reminded her, much to her disgust, and had continued to soap himself in it. She had stormed away, letting him think he had won, before disabling the house's hot water minutes later.   
  
At the time it had seemed so ridiculous and offensive, but now...   
  
Dorothy wasn't preparing vegetables in the kitchen. He frowned, and wondered if everything was all right in the patch. He stuck his head out of the window and called, "Heidi!" There was no answer. He scrubbed his hair with the towel and wondered where she could be.   
  
Suddenly, he heard a small, intermittent noise. It was the mini computer he used to send in his daily report to the preventers, alerting him to a vid communication. This was unheard of; he'd made a particular point of concealing this computer and his reports from Dorothy so that she wouldn't use it to try and speak to Une herself.   
  
He opened it up. "Preventer Une?" he said curiously. She seemed tense.   
  
"Wufei, we have a problem." Wufei was at once in preventer mode, more than he had been for days. "Someone hacked into your reports, they know that you and Dorothy are hiding out in Hong Kong. It's a good thing you didn't tell us where, they have no idea as to your exact location, but be on your guard: do not let Dorothy Catalonia out of your sight, and keep her indoors as much as possible. Impress the importance of it upon her, I'm sure she'll co-operate."   
  
Wufei nodded, his throat dry. "I'll speak to her immediately."   
  
She nodded curtly. "See that you do. Une out."   
  
The moment she disconnected, he slammed the computer shut and shoved it back into its hiding place. He ran outside and called for Dorothy, with no answer. She was nowhere to be found. Wufei felt a ball of dread in the pit of his stomach, and ran over to the Lams' house.   
  
Mr and Mrs Lam obviously couldn't comprehend the gravity of the situation, but were concerned at his ruffled appearance nonetheless. "Mr Wong!" Mrs Lam greeted him. "First Heidi, and now you, what a pleasant surprise!"   
  
Wufei stiffened. "Where is she?" he said in a controlled voice. Mrs Lam looked taken aback by his tone.   
  
"Why, Heidi came to see us earlier, I think she was asking us about how to get to the city. We lent her our boat for the day, and she thanked us, that's all."   
  
His blood ran cold. "How long ago was that?"   
  
"It was this morning, I'm not sure of the time. I think she went to buy some food, she kept pointing to our spice rack."   
  
Wufei thanked her quickly, declined the offer of tea and ran back to his own boat, cursing a certain platinum debutante every step of the way.   
  
  
  
  
  
Dorothy was enjoying Hong Kong very much. With the wad of notes she had taken from Wufei's wallet, she had bought herself some herbs first, afterwards succumbing to her growing need of a restaurant meal. It was the nicest three-course meal she had ever tasted, but her stomach was so shrunk from their frugal diet that she was stuffed very quickly. Ordinarily, she was able to finish such a meal with room to spare, but just as in those days she had never known hunger, she had never known what it was to be truly full either.   
  
Greatly satisfied, she left a handsome tip and walked out, checking her watch. There were still hours till sundown, more than long enough to indulge her other great weakness: clothes shopping.   
  
It was such a stereotype that she hated to surrender to it, but part of how people viewed her depended a lot on what she wore, and Dorothy cared a great deal about public opinion. She had never had the chance to browse in China before, and delighted in discovering how uniquely beautiful each garment was.   
  
The shopping relaxed her the way nothing had for ages, made her forget where she was and who she was with, but Dorothy decided it was time to leave when the sunlight began to fade. She and Wufei weren't staying on the main island, but on one of the smaller ones around it, and she knew she had to leave quickly if she wanted to get back before sunset.   
  
Suddenly, there was a strong grip on her arm. She looked up and saw Wufei, his face expressionless in what she recognised as his preventer mode.   
  
"What are you doing?" she hissed.   
  
"I told you to stay near me. You violated that trust."   
  
She found herself growing angry. "Ever since I met you, you've been controlling me!" she exploded, still in a hiss. "From telling me I can't go out to putting me in a box-"   
  
"I apologised for that."   
  
"To dyeing my hair-"   
  
"That hair dye has probably saved your life countless times today."   
  
She rolled her eyes in frustration. "Don't be so overdramatic, no one knows where we are!"   
  
"Typical woman, assuming things you know nothing of."   
  
This infuriated her further, and she was about to say something when he stopped at a stall and began looking at the products, a rather dull selection of patterned rugs.   
  
She laughed bitterly. "Oh, so I'm in deadly danger, but there's always time to carpet shop?"   
  
"There's a long distance gunman on the rooftops, there may be more. They can't recognise you easily, but they're looking."   
  
"Where?"   
  
"About a hundred metres to the right, on our side of the street."   
  
She turned her head to try and catch a glimpse of the gunman, but found herself confronted with a faceful of carpet. The scratchy rug lowered to reveal Wufei grinning like a tourist as he spoke loudly in Chinese.   
  
She knew with a disgusted certainty what he had just asked her, and glared at him. "It's hideous, put it down."   
  
His head came closer to hers as he leaned over to lay it back. It gave him the opportunity to say, "Then don't endanger your life by looking for your assassins," in the quietest voice possible."   
  
She sighed. "How are we going to get out of here?"   
  
"You came here to shop, so we'll shop," he said, with considerable distaste. "But you have to act like my wife, do you understand?" She nodded mutely. He spoke harshly, his voice full of an irritation quite out of synch with the blank expression on his face. "For once in your life, just do as I say, and you might leave this island alive."   
  
Even after these words, she was still startled when he took her hand in his. "Don't speak. If they hear an English voice, they'll track you down easily. I'm going to speak in Chinese from now on, just smile and nod at everything." He spoke a few words in Chinese, and she smiled and nodded neutrally. "Exactly," he whispered.   
  
It was the last time he spoke English that day, and Dorothy spent the next hour as a smiling, nodding mute. She hated it, hated being this helpless, but decided grudgingly that pretending to be Wufei's wife wasn't actually the worst punishment she could have come up with. If she hadn't been fully aware that a gun could be trained to her head for every move she made, it would have even felt comfortable. Wufei, far from the awkwardness she had expected, was doing an incredible job of seeming relaxed, his own actions even putting her at ease. He slipped an arm around her waist and held her close, his hand resting easily on her hip. She returned the gesture, and actually began to get into this role.   
  
Her thoughts strayed once again to the girl in the photographs. Dorothy wanted to know the answers to those pictures more than ever.   
  
An hour or so into this facade, he suddenly steered her to the side of the street and turned her very specifically. She forgot about not speaking English and opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing when he punched her, sending her flying into the wall.   
  
Head reeling, she was startled out of her daze by the sound of gunshots, and was about to cry out when she remembered his instructions to remain silent. When she could see clearly again, she was stunned.   
  
Wufei had dodged every single shot.   
  
"Dorothy Catalonia."   
  
The gunman jumped down and spoke in broken English.   
  
"I am a representative of the Prisoners of War."   
  
He didn't get to continue. Wufei attacked the taller man first, violently twisting and smashing whatever body parts were necessary to remove every weapon the assassin possessed. The man retaliated, and Dorothy became hypnotised by the chaos, at a loss as they fought with skill and speed, their movements too smoothly executed to remain clear.   
  
They became clear in a hurry when the man pulled back an arm and shouted at her breathlessly in his broken English.   
  
"Traitor to humanity! Die!" His arm was flung forward.   
  
Suddenly Wufei was in front of her, sprawled on the ground. She cried out in shock when she saw the knife handle sticking out of his side, the handle of the blade meant for her. Tears trickled down her cheeks as the assassin advanced. She looked into the man's eyes, all thoughts of flight gone from her head, waiting for her death.   
  
  
  
  



End file.
